


Sliding into Winter

by Burgie



Series: 12 Days of Ficsmas 2017 [1]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 07:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13002948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: The gang visits the Christmas Village, hijinks ensue. Based on a group Skype call that happened when the village was released and Fire Star was down so I could get on. Savvy belongs to sso-saturnrider on tumblr, Zelda belongs to ZDusk, Elsa belongs to twracehorse on tumblr, Izabella belongs to hollow_moon, and Jack belongs to SSO-Jack_Wolfwatcher.





	Sliding into Winter

Louisa felt a little strange, being on a horse that she barely rode. But Nathalie had locked her out of the stable again, so she had to make do with the horses that she kept at Firgrove. Fortunately, Felicity hadn’t locked the place up yet. And she had one snow-loving horse there, though the mare was quite angry that Louisa had been neglecting her again.

“Sorry,” said Louisa as the white mare glared at her. Catmother snorted and pawed the ground, and Louisa had never seen an Icelandic horse look so angry.

“Don’t worry, she’ll cheer up after a few days of the good oats,” said Maya, patting the Icelandic’s head and just barely missing getting her fingers chomped.

“Or when I take her to the snow,” said Louisa. “You like it there, don’t you, Katja? You blend in just like your daughter.”

“I am going to do everything I can to make you fall off,” Catmother vowed as Louisa swung up into the saddle. Louisa laughed.

“I’d like to see you try,” said Louisa, taking the reins. “See you later, Maya.”

“Good thing I’ve already looked after your other horses,” said Maya as she carried a bucket of water over to Dreamchaser’s stall. “Have fun with your friends!”

“I will,” said Louisa, smiling. There was a sleigh outside that would take her to a Christmas Village, according to the little creature that sat in the sleigh doing a sudoku puzzle, but Zelda had texted Louisa asking her to wait. So had Jack, and Izabella. 

“You could train me while you wait,” said Catmother.

“You’re already fully trained,” said Louisa, nudging the mare with her legs so that she trotted forward. Catmother sighed inside her head.

“You are a menace to horses,” said Catmother, knowing exactly where Louisa was heading as they just so ‘happened’ to head down past the Firgrove races.

“Look, I’m only going to try climbing it, you did the suffer climb so you can do this,” said Louisa. Catmother snorted.

But, when they got close, Louisa’s hands slackened on the reins and she stared in shock at the huge, green entrance tunnel that definitely hadn’t been there this morning.

“Did an earthquake open a new area or something?” asked Louisa, feeling her phone buzz with a text. She got her phone out, meaning to take a photo, but instead found a text from Savvy.

 _“The Mistfall tunnel changed,”_ Louisa texted her, and Savvy was there in a few moments, during which time Louisa sent a text out to the group chat that she was in with the rest of her friends.

After meeting up and ‘ooohing’ and ‘aahing’ over the tunnel entrance (and trying their luck with the stubborn security guards), the group travelled back up to Firgrove, where they waited for Izabella.

“Is Jack coming?” asked Louisa.

“He said he’ll meet us there,” said Zelda, checking her phone.

“Are we going now?” asked Elsa, taking her phone out ready to record video for her Jortube channel.

“Yeah, we’re all here, let’s go,” said Zelda, and they all spoke to the sleigh driver.

“Hop in,” said the sleigh driver.

“Um,” said Izabella, looking at her Shire. “We have four horses.”

“Yeah, and one’s a big’un,” said Zelda.

“They’ll fit,” said the driver with a shrug. Somehow, they all did fit. The magic of Christmas, Louisa guessed.

It took Louisa a while to climb out of the sleigh, not least because Catmother was being difficult, but when she did, she was surprised to see the beauty of the place. There was snow everywhere, a moon and stars in the sky, an aurora borealis, snowflakes were falling everywhere…

“Good thing I dressed warm,” said Louisa, pulling her purple hoodie tighter about herself.

“There’s a slide down to the village!” Izabella squealed, and suddenly her and her horse both disappeared over the edge of the ice pillar that they were all standing on.

After Louisa and Elsa talked to the Santa-hatted creature, who told them to go to Santa, the four of them lined up and slid on their horses down the icy slope. Louisa was worried, especially with the way Catmother’s horseshoes slid on the ice, but they all managed to get down in one piece without hitting any of the houses.

Laughing, Louisa followed her friends up the stairs and went down again. 

“Dizzy, catch me!” Zelda called as she slid down on her Pintabian, and Izabella stood her Shire in the one spot. The collision sent Dizzy sliding further along the ice, and both friends laughed, even as their horses almost got tangled. Louisa slid into Dizzy too with a grunt, almost falling off her smaller horse, but she laughed.

They went down a few more times, their laughter filling the air and joy filling Louisa’s heart, before Izabella rode around under the slide to where they could see a large frozen lake.

“It’s like Yuuri on ice, ya’ll,” said Zelda, and Elsa nodded her agreement, her anime-loving friend grinning from ear to ear as their horses slid around on the ice.

“Jorvik Drift,” said Louisa, laughing.

They skated for a few minutes, all grinning and laughing and enjoying the festive atmosphere. And then Jack sent a message to the group chat.

 _“Alright, I’m coming,”_ Jack sent.

“Wait right there,” said Zelda. “We are coming up.” A trail of four horses spread out along the path, the two Icelandics lagging behind, but Jack was waiting by the sleigh where they’d told him to wait by the time they all reached the top.

“Oh, wow,” said Jack as he gazed around in wonder. “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, it’s great,” said Izabella, grinning.

“We have to show him the frozen lake,” said Zelda.

“Definitely,” said Izabella, grinning.

“What frozen lake?” asked Jack. 

“But slide down here first,” said Izabella. They lined up again, and Izabella pushed off first, ready to wait to ‘catch’ the others.

“Whee!” Jack crowed with delight as he slid down on the back of Dale, and laughed once he reached the bottom. He broke off into a coughing fit, but he managed to recover.

“Everyone here is sick but me,” said Louisa. “I am immune to the cold.”

“What if I spat in your mouth?” said Izabella, hawking back phlegm, and Louisa quickly tolted out of the way.

“C’mon, let’s go ice skating,” said Zelda, and led the group back onto the frozen lake.

“Wow, I’ve never seen slippery ice like this in Jorvik before,” said Jack as Dale’s hooves slid on the slick ice. The gelding snorted, then whinnied in alarm as they continued sliding. “Uh, how do I steer this thing?”

“Just ride around and slide,” said Izabella. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

“It’s really fun,” said Elsa, grinning.

The ice skating was not glamorous in any sense of the word, not even on a graceful lipizanner. While everyone else laughed and enjoyed themselves, smiling with glee, Jack made uncertain noises while Dale’s legs wobbled.

“I don’t like it,” said Jack as he slid past behind them. “I don’t like iiiit.” The group of girls laughed as Jack slid directly into a snow drift, falling off as Dale sprang out of the snow. “Dale, how could you?” Jack poked his head out of the snow, snow hanging off his chin in one large clump.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were growing a beard,” said Zelda.

“What? Oh,” said Jack, looking down. “It looks good on me, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” said Louisa, nodding.

“Then I’ll keep it,” said Jack, standing from the snow. Dale trotted back over, slipping around on the ice, and neighed as he slid straight past his rider and into the snow drift.

“Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” said Jack, and Dale snorted in Jack’s face.

Jack rode around the frozen lake as the group headed into the village, keeping to the snow so that he wouldn’t slip around too much. He didn’t want to lose his beard, after all.

In the village, Zelda, Jack and Louisa rode around looking at the shops. 

“Oh, here’s the mistletoe,” said Louisa, buying some and putting it on Catmother’s bridle. “Smokeeye has some too, and a few of my other horses.”

“You must now kiss me because I have mistletoe,” said Zelda, placing some on her horse’s bridle and sitting back primly. Louisa snickered as Jack kissed Zelda’s cheek. “Hey, you have some too.” Now Louisa giggled as both of them rode around her and kissed one cheek each.

“Gay,” said Louisa, laughing.

While Jack and Zelda rode off to talk to people and look in the other shops, and Elsa rode around recording video, Louisa rode off and talked to one of the strange ‘Christmas helpers’.

“Find five Santa hats and I’ll give you some Christmas wishes,” said the helper.

“Done,” said Louisa, turning Catmother and riding off. She almost immediately got stuck between two houses, frowned, and tried to jump through them. Catmother bumped into one house, and Louisa suddenly found her horse belly-deep in the snow. “Oh dear.”

“Where’d Louisa go?” asked Zelda, riding back with Izabella in tow. “Hewwo! Oh no.”

“I’m stuck,” said Louisa. Catmother struggled but couldn’t extricate herself from the snow. “Well, I guess this is it.”

“You had a good run,” said Zelda, taking her hat off and holding it against her chest, bowing her head. “You will be missed.” Louisa tried not to giggle.

“Tell my wife I love her,” said Louisa.

“Such a sad end,” Izabella continued, dramtically putting a hand to her forehead. “Eaten by snow.”

“What the fuck are you three doing?” asked Jack, riding up behind Louisa. “Oh, rip.”

“What a world,” said Louisa dramatically. “I’m surprised that beard’s still on you.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda frozen to my skin but I like it,” said Jack. “On an unrelated note, I can’t feel my chin.” Louisa laughed.

“I’m gonna go find some chain,” said Izabella. “We’ll pull you out.”

“You know you can just get off your horse, right?” said Jack.

“I don’t want to leave her here to die, she already hates me enough as it is,” said Louisa.

“Alright,” said Zelda, turning to follow Izabella in search of some chain. “I’ll light a candle for you.”

“Thank you,” said Louisa, bowing her head solemnly.

With the help of Izabella, Louisa found herself and Catmother pulled out of the snow with one mighty tug. They popped out through the houses, almost colliding with the little café tables.

“Yay, I’m free!” Louisa cheered. “I owe you my life, Izabella.”

“You are safe now, my child,” said Izabella. “Let’s get some hot chocolate, I’m fuckin freezing.”

They all agreed, except Jack, who didn’t want his beard to sadly plop into his hot drink. Instead, he sat at another table, taking selfies of himself with his beard and sending them to Ydris.


End file.
